Firstly, a very big apology to all of the mortgage brokers and other wiser investors on the forum over the years who warned me that getting heavily involved with one Lender was a very bad idea.
We ignored your sage advice, and barrelled head along into a financial relationship that can only be described as "all encompassing".....sure it got us access to funds but boy do we have a straight jacket on now.
Not only did we tie ourselves up with mortgages knotted like a ball of string after a kitten has played with it, but we also submitted ourselves to their ;
Other banking products
Health Insurance products
Home and contents Insurance products
CCs
It got to the point where the Bankers could click on their computer system and basically review our entire life within 5 minutes. Exactly what we got paid, what we spent, when we spent it, where we spent it and all of the shuffling of funds that goes with operating a decent operation.
This is all Jim Dandy when they wish to play the game, but when they say no, that straight jacket you've been slowly putting on and tying up suddenly starts to pinch. Perhaps it's just a sign of the economic times we find ourselves in. Perhaps not.
We have been attempting to extract a title deed off them for the past 5 months. Current LVR of just 48%. After extraction it would have been 51%. This would have provided enough funds for the family to live off for the next 6 years. We were keen to do this, to say the least. Bye bye job.
The wife and I have been toiling away on this task, along with 3 separate mortgage brokers for the past 4 months. One gave up early in the piece, the other two hung in there 'til stumps, but alas it was all in vain.
We finally received a letter from the Bank yesterday, after 4 months of nothingness, saying that they had reviewed our situation and concluded that we were never to be lent another cent. We've been with this mob for 15 years now and have never missed a payment, with half our loans pre-paid for the coming year. This matters not a jot. The loyalty and goodwill we assumed had been built up over that period was not there.
A panel review board of 9 Bankers in Sydney made the decision with no representation from our side and no avenue of appeal. They said they didn't want to "weaken their position" by releasing anything, in fact they stated they wanted more of both security and cashflow to furhter shore up their position. We are now without an option, we think.
I broke the news to the wife last night and we are both now scratching our heads as to what our next move is. We wish to have our cake and eat it, but alas it doesn't seem to be possible.
We started this property investing journey way back when, with a view to actually having some control over our destiny later on (i.e. now). We now find that we have very little control, and some nameless faceless bunch of folks over the other side of the country are dictating how long I must work for.
We tossed around a whole bunch of options to get rid of this straight jacket and gain some control back in our lives.....i.e. start eating some of the fruit of our labours. None are very attractive thus far, for reasons such as large CGT bills and also large jumps in re-fi costs.
We have an over-riding desire to keep the portfolio intact, as we think it will benefit us more long term than the grief we are going through at the moment.....but this may change if our lack of control and lack of options continues.
I'd be interested in your considered views & comments.
P.S. As part of the review process, the Lender emphasised that the only reason they left us alone for this year and didn't clamp down hard was the fact that I had renewed my contract to work another year.
P.P.S. Just started a new job last week....and it sucks.
We ignored your sage advice, and barrelled head along into a financial relationship that can only be described as "all encompassing".....sure it got us access to funds but boy do we have a straight jacket on now.
Not only did we tie ourselves up with mortgages knotted like a ball of string after a kitten has played with it, but we also submitted ourselves to their ;
Other banking products
Health Insurance products
Home and contents Insurance products
CCs
It got to the point where the Bankers could click on their computer system and basically review our entire life within 5 minutes. Exactly what we got paid, what we spent, when we spent it, where we spent it and all of the shuffling of funds that goes with operating a decent operation.
This is all Jim Dandy when they wish to play the game, but when they say no, that straight jacket you've been slowly putting on and tying up suddenly starts to pinch. Perhaps it's just a sign of the economic times we find ourselves in. Perhaps not.
We have been attempting to extract a title deed off them for the past 5 months. Current LVR of just 48%. After extraction it would have been 51%. This would have provided enough funds for the family to live off for the next 6 years. We were keen to do this, to say the least. Bye bye job.
The wife and I have been toiling away on this task, along with 3 separate mortgage brokers for the past 4 months. One gave up early in the piece, the other two hung in there 'til stumps, but alas it was all in vain.
We finally received a letter from the Bank yesterday, after 4 months of nothingness, saying that they had reviewed our situation and concluded that we were never to be lent another cent. We've been with this mob for 15 years now and have never missed a payment, with half our loans pre-paid for the coming year. This matters not a jot. The loyalty and goodwill we assumed had been built up over that period was not there.
A panel review board of 9 Bankers in Sydney made the decision with no representation from our side and no avenue of appeal. They said they didn't want to "weaken their position" by releasing anything, in fact they stated they wanted more of both security and cashflow to furhter shore up their position. We are now without an option, we think.
I broke the news to the wife last night and we are both now scratching our heads as to what our next move is. We wish to have our cake and eat it, but alas it doesn't seem to be possible.
We started this property investing journey way back when, with a view to actually having some control over our destiny later on (i.e. now). We now find that we have very little control, and some nameless faceless bunch of folks over the other side of the country are dictating how long I must work for.
We tossed around a whole bunch of options to get rid of this straight jacket and gain some control back in our lives.....i.e. start eating some of the fruit of our labours. None are very attractive thus far, for reasons such as large CGT bills and also large jumps in re-fi costs.
We have an over-riding desire to keep the portfolio intact, as we think it will benefit us more long term than the grief we are going through at the moment.....but this may change if our lack of control and lack of options continues.
I'd be interested in your considered views & comments.
P.S. As part of the review process, the Lender emphasised that the only reason they left us alone for this year and didn't clamp down hard was the fact that I had renewed my contract to work another year.
P.P.S. Just started a new job last week....and it sucks.